Doctor's Visit

I went to see my doctor yesterday. I've lost 11.5 pounds since October 16 but I wanted something to help me out. I had an appointment at a weight loss clinic but I wanted to check with my doctor to see if the program was a good idea.

When the nursed weighed me, she thought she made a mistake and asked me to jump back on the scale. I thought she forgot to take my height. I'm not sure if she takes my height every time. She rechecked my weight and had a puzzled look on her face. I then realized that she thought she made a mistake.

I talked to my doctor about my diet and what I've been eating. I told him sometimes I was still hungry. (It all depends on the time of the month.) He talked to me about food I should eat and what I should be avoiding. He basically told me to cut out the sugar and the bread. I told him I've been doing that. He also told me to avoid red meat. A steak every now and then is fine. I told him I'm not a red meat eater so I end up eating a lot of eggs. He said that eggs are fine. My last lipid test (in September) was fine and I've never had a history of cholesterol issues.

I listed what I usually eat. The only thing he was concerned about was the agave nectar and the artificial sweeteners. He said even artificial sweeteners induce too many cravings for sugar. I use agave nectar very sparingly when I eat Greek yogurt. He was fine with what I've been doing and thought I had a pretty good start. He wrote me a prescription for phentermine. That's basically what the weight loss clinic was going to give me but for a high fee per month so I canceled the appointment.

He said he wanted to see me in a month. I should be losing ten pounds in a month on the phentermine. I'm not sure if he will give me the full four months because he said that my goal should another ten pounds. I didn't tell him that my goal was probably another 20 to 30 pounds.

I filled the phentermine at Rite Aid and it was only $27.99. I think it's cheaper at other pharmacies but Rite Aid was close to work. Yesterday they were only about to give me three pills so they had me return to get the remainder today. The pharmacist today asked me how it was working out. I told him I only started with half a dose this morning. He asked me if I drank any coffee. I said I had two cups today and was fine. I guess he was a little shocked because my BMI is actually not high enough for phentermine. I believe it's recommended for someone with a BMI of 30 or higher. I'm around 26 so I'm overweight but not overly so.

I noticed I felt pretty good but I was still slightly hungry. I'm not sure if it's because of the half dose or because it's the first day. Hopefully I don't have too much trouble sleeping tonight.

I just tried on my Asian dress today. It fits with some wiggle room. When I first got in early October, the seamstress made the bust area slightly too small -- by about or three inches. It wouldn't zip up. Now it zips all the way up and it is too big everywhere else. I'm bigger up top with almost no hips.

Kimchi and Salted Mustard Greens

Before I write about kimchi and salted mustard greens, I need to do a quick weight loss update. As of yesterday, I'm down 10.5 pounds in just over a month.

I've been craving kimchi. I usually buy a small container at the Korean market but I decided to make my own. I bought the Korean red chili flakes for Korean cucumber kimchi a while back. This recipe is slightly different than most traditional kimchi recipes. It does not call for any glutinous rice flour or sugar. It relies on the natural sugars from the onions and Asian pear.

Kimchi is a great diet food. Not only is it on the list of world superfoods but it's very low calorie and high in fiber. There's a long list other nutrients. Sometimes when I feel a need to munch, I just grab the container and a fork. When I'm feeling a little more civilized, I dish some out into a bowl.

Kimchi

1 head napa cabbage
pickling salt, as needed
water
1/2 cup Korean chili flakes
2 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup daikon, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 yellow onion
1 Asian or Korean pear

1. Slice napa cabbage into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Dissolve about 1/2 cup salt in lukewarm water. Soak cabbage slices in salt water for 4 hours.
3. Rinse cabbage to remove excess salt then transfer to large bowl.
4. Combine chili flakes with water to make a thick paste. Mix paste into the cabbage, gently rubbing it into the cabbage leaves.
5. Add carrot, daikon, garlic, ginger, green onions, and fish sauce.
6. Blend onion and Asian pear with 1 cup of water and then add to cabbage mixture. Taste the mixture and add more salt if needed.
7. Transfer to a glass jar, packing the leaves down and compacting them together. Pour liquid on top. Make sure to leave about 2 inches of room. Leave on counter for 24 to 48 hours then refrigerate. Kimchi should be ready to eat. I actually like it a little more ripe and leave it in the fridge for a week before eating.

The two canning jars contain the kimchi I made and the plastic tub is from the Korean market. I used slightly less of the chili.

While I was making kimchi, I started craving salted mustard greens. I tried making it with turnip greens because that's all I could find at the grocery store. It didn't taste so good so I went our to the Korean market and picked up some Chinese mustard greens. Grandma usually makes this with a variety of flowering mustard greens that she grows herself. It has a slightly more bitter taste. I prefer the Chinese mustard greens because of the crunchy thick stems.

I know there are several recipes out there. The Vietnamese version is more of a pickled mustard green because it uses vinegar and some sugar. The version I'm making only uses salt, water, and some glutinous rice.

Salted Mustard Greens

1 head of mustard greens (approximately 3 pounds)
pickling salt
water
2 tablespoons glutinous rice, boiled with 1/2 cup of water and cooled

1. Cut mustard greens into bite-sized pieces.
2. Lay the mustard green outside for several hours until wilted. (I put it on a baking sheet lined with a cookie rack.)
3. Once the mustard greens are wilted, transfer to a large bowl. Add about 1/2 cup of pickling salt and mix to distribute. Let sit a few minutes and then gently massage the salt into the mustard greens.
4. Add boiled rice and mix together. (Some people prefer to push the rice grains through a mesh strainer and create a paste. Others simply add the rice grains whole. Grandma always added the rice whole.)
5. Pack mustard greens into glass jar. Pour any liquid into jar and then top off with water. Taste and adjust salt if necessary. The mustard greens should be fairly salty or it will rot.
6. Let jar sit out on the counter for several days. The number of days depends on the the temperature in your house. I made this on a Sunday and it didn't sour until Thursday. When I watched mom and grandma make this back in July, it was ready in about two days. Refrigerate once the greens are sour.

On the second and third day, I thought I had ruined it and the greens would rot and liquify in the jar. Then on the four/fifth day, it magically turned into the nice crunchy greens that grandma used to make.

Once the greens are sour, you can use them in scrambled eggs, stir-fries, or as a side condiment to grilled meats. To make the condiment, scoop out some mustard greens into a bowl and mix in sliced Thai chilis, ginger chiffonade, chopped cilantro, and MSG.

Before wilting in the sun:

After wilting in the sun. It probably could have used a few more hours in the sun but unfortunately my balcony started getting too shaded.

Salt the greens. I use canning and pickling salt because it doesn't contain iodine or anti-caking additives. The additives can cause cloudiness or darkening of the food or liquid. I think maybe the reason why grandma's salted greens are darker than mine is because she likes to use Morton iodized salt.

After salting and gently rubbing, the greens should be pliable.

Pack into a jar and add more water and salt if necessary. I didn't completely cover with water but by the next morning, water continued to leach out of the greens and the greens wilted even more.

Bread

Someone suggested that I try to Kroger brand Carb Helper bread. I read good reviews about the bread and how some people were heartbroken when Kroger discontinued it for a while. The bread is relatively affordable compared to other low carb bread on the market (which currently isn't many).

I've been eating the Sara Lee Delightful Light Whole Wheat with Honey bread mainly because I get two slices for about the same calories as a regular slice of another bread. It's only slightly less caloric but my main problem is wanting two slices to make a sandwich and it's tough to find two slices of whole wheat for less than 100 calories. Sometimes I will use only one slice and fold it in half when I want just a little snack.

So what I'm looking for in a bread:

- Get two slices for 100 calories or less. It doesn't matter if the slices are thinner but I don't want to be the one slicing a slice in half to get two slices.

- Affordable. Hey it's bread. Flour is cheap so I can't justify paying more for bread than I do for meat.

- High in fiber. Because staying regular is goof.

- High in protein. Protein is your friend.

- Taste. It must taste good because it will be a rare treat.

- Easy to find. I don't mind driving out of my way once in a while but an ideal bread should be easy to locate. I'm not paying $7.99 per loaf and then also pay for shipping or wait until I go home to bring back a few loaves at a time. I want to be able to drive to a store to pick it up when I'm feeling like some bread. Storing 6 loaves in the freezer doesn't make much sense to me either since I've never been able to eat previously refrigerated or frozen bread before. Bread is something you eat fresh -- meaning in a few days.

- Whole grain.

- No High Fructose Corn Syrup. Ideally the yeast should be fed with honey or molasses but I'll settle for evaporated cane juice (or sugar).

So below are the stats for both bread. Same calories but Kroger is slightly better in terms of fiber and protein.

Kroger:
Serving: 1 slice (28g)
Calories 45
Total Fat: 1g
Total Carb: 7g
Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 5g

Sara Lee:
Serving: 1 slice (22g)
Calories 45
Total Fat: .5g
Total Carb: 7g
Fiber: 2.5g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 3g

Sara Lee also has HFCS which I am not crazy about. Pepperidge Farm also makes a light bread but it also has HFCS. Anyone have any other recs? Something that is easy to find? I went searching for the Julian Bakery Smart Carb 1 bread at Vitamin Cottage today without any luck. I think I have to venture out to a different VC to find it (or wait until I go home in a few weeks and bring some back).

Now a review of the bread. I think it tastes fine. I had a slice with natural peanut butter and sugar free blackberry preserves and another slice with almond butter (ground in store by Vitamin Cottage) and sugar free blackberry preserves. The bread is slightly spongy if that makes any sense. I think it's the corn starch used. The texture of Sara Lee is more like real bread. Sara Lee is marketed as a lower calorie bread; not a low carb bread.

Remember that South Beach is not a low carb diet. But I try to make a conscious effort to limit my carb intake and would rather get my carbs from beans, veggies, and nuts. South Beach is also not a calorie counting diet. I know other people have lost weight even without counting their calories but for me, it doesn't work that way. The only way I lose weight is limiting the calories I take it. It's simple math. 3,500 calories is a pound. If I cut out 3,500 calories from my diet, I lose a pound.

Then why am I doing South Beach? Well...because I love sweets and bread. I love carbs. To keep myself from eating too much, I must restrict the things I love. I've never been much of a meat eater but by forcing myself to eat more meat, I am eating to stop my hunger. Plus it keeps me full longer. When I eat tons of carby food, I eat and then I get hungry so therefore I eat some more. It's a cycle. I find that by eating more protein, I eat less because I stay full longer.

So why eat bread? I can't stay on Phase 1 forever so I must add back in fruits and grains. Whole grains are good for you. Before when I ate bread, I chose mostly the variety made from white flour. The dense whole grain stuff was only purchased for the BF.

So the quest for the perfect bread continues. For now, either one will work fine.

Day 4: South Beach Phase 2

I've been hovering at the same weight for the past few days. I know I should be grateful that I haven't gained any weight back since I started adding back a few whole grains but it's difficult to accept it after such rapid weight loss. The pace during Dukan Phase 1 and South Beach Phase 1 is very encouraging.

I've had to remind myself that I probably loss quite a few pounds in water weight and with adding back some whole grains, my body is probably starting to re-store the glycogen and water and I'm still actually losing real weight but putting back on some of the water weight. Hopefully after I get past this, the weight loss will be a steady two pounds per week.

With more food options, it's easier to eat more calories. I had one slice of light whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and sugar free, high fiber strawberry jam. PB&J never tasted so good. Remember I'm the girl who used to cringe when the BF ate PB&J on whole wheat bread. I have always had PB&J on white bread.

I've been trying to limit myself to maybe one or two servings of Phase 2 food per day. I haven't upped my dairy intake either. I felt pretty comfortable with about 1 cup of dairy per day and didn't feel a need to increase it.

I have been eating a lot of beans lately. Last Friday I cooked up about 3 pounds of dried pinto beans and froze them in 3 cups portions for different recipes. Today I cooked some up Charro style with a little bacon and chorizo.

I really love nuts but I've been limiting myself to just one serving per day. If I have peanut butter then I don't eat mixed nuts or pistachios. Peanuts are a legume but for this diet I count it as a nut because of the high fat content. I didn't realize nuts were so calorie d

Day 2: South Beach Phase 2

Breakfast: 2 slices turkey bacon

Lunch: 2 slices CPK whole wheat the Works pizza
Snack: Mixed nuts
Dinner: Chicken and asparagus stir-fry
Dessert: 1 % milk + sugar free chocolate syrup

Now planning what Phase 2 food I will eat tomorrow on Day 3.

Stirring Peanut Butter

Growing up, mom used to buy the large glass jars of Laura Scudder's peanut butter. This was the kind that kept separating so peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were always a pain. I still remember sitting on the ground with a dinner knife, stirring and stirring. It required more stirring because my mom loved buying bulk and always bought the super-sized jars.

Mom eventually started buying Skippy at Price Club/Costco and life was good. No more sitting on the ground stirring. I don't know why mom switched. Mom discovered Price Club (pre-Costco) when I was in my early teens. I don't think think Price Club carried Laura Scudders. I always thought Laura Scudders went out of business and that's why it disappeared from our pantry.

So my view on peanut butter has always been Skippy = Good and Natural = Pain in the A$$. So I've always stuck with JIF or Skippy in the Super Chunk varieties. In recent years I've been buying the Skippy Natural -- Chunky for me and Creamy for the bf. The last time I did South Beach, I found Peter Pan made a no sugar added variety.

This time around, I went looking for peanut butter. I read all the labels and they all had sugar. Even the 12 jars of Skippy Natural I have in the pantry had sugar. So I resigned myself to buying Adam's natural peanut butter. When I bought it I knew what I was getting myself into. I could see the layer of oil at the top of the jar.

It wasn't until I opened the jar and had to stir it when the memories of the little girl sitting on the ground, stirring Laura Scudders natural peanut butter came back. I made a mess. Oil dripped down the sides of the jar onto my hands. After I was done stirring, I closed up the jar and scrubbed it down with soap and hot water.

I later read that there's an easier way to remixing the oil back into the jar -- simply store the jar upside down in the pantry and if you remember, alternate turning it right side up and upside down every few days. Why didn't I know about this trick earlier? For me, it's not the taste of natural peanut butter that bothers me, it's just the stirring thing. I know it's more a psychological thing for me. It's like how I can only eat PB&J (or PB&H(oney)) on white bread. BF eats is on wheat and I always cringe. In an effort to be somewhat healthier, I started buying the Sara Lee whole grain white as a compromise.

The other day I was at a different store and checked out the peanut butter selection. Right next to the Adam's was the Laura Scudder's. I bought it because I'm nostalgic. I read the label and saw that both were made by Smucker's but they looked different. I know Smucker's also sells their own brand of natural peanut butter. I wondered why they sold natural peanut butter under three different names so I looked up the history.

It appears that the company started making natural peanut butter under the Smucker's name in 1978. Laura Scudder's was purchased in 1994 and Adam's in 1997. Adam's peanut butter company was started by Rex F. Adams in 1918 in Tacoma Washington. Laura Scudder started her food company in 1926 in Monterey Park, California. She pioneered the whole packaging potato chips in sealed bags thing. She didn't get into the natural peanut butter business until the late 1950s. The company has been sold several times and was purchased in 1994 by Smucker's. Is Smucker's trying to buy the natural peanut market? There are many local and store brands but it appears that Smucker's has a fair share of the national market.

I now have both brands in my pantry. We'll see what I like better.

Day 1: South Beach Phase 2

I'm still on the diet but I've been really busy at work and I didn't have anything interesting to report.

Today is my first day into Phase 2 of South Beach. I'm not planning on eating everything on the Phase 2 list right away. When you start Phase 2, you need to be careful and try out just adding just one serving of legal carbs per day and slowly increase it.

We're planning on going out for 5 grain pizza today so that will be my one Phase 2 carb.

Day 6: South Beach Phase 1

It's probably not a good idea to skip meals while on this diet but I've been so busy at work that I sometimes end up skipping lunch.

Today I had my usual coffee and then I finally heated up my homemade chicken breakfast sausage. I couldn't stomach any more of the Dannon Carb Control yogurt. I think the oat bran actually improves the taste but I haven't been eating oat bran since I started SB.

I worked through lunch. I think I had a handful of pistachios about 2:00. I didn't eat my lunch until 4:00. I had my naked turkey burger with shredded romaine and an avocado half on the side. At about 5:00, I snacked on sugar snap peas and Tribe hummus.

By the time I got home, I wasn't hungry enough to eat dinner. I had a glass of chocolate milk around 7:00.

I'm thinking about the one serving of Phase 2 food that I can add back in on Sunday. I'm thinking:

- bran muffin
- cereal (Hi-Lo vanilla almond, Uncle Sam's, Special K Protein Plus, or shredded wheats)
- oatmeal (I bought some Better Oats brand oatmeal called Oat Fit.)
- 5 grain pizza from the local health restaurant that serves salads and "healthy pizza."
- buckwheat pancakes
- an apple or banana
- slice of whole wheat toast
- whole wheat tortilla

It will probably be something I eat for lunch or dinner because I read that certain carbs shouldn't be eaten at breakfast because it induces cravings. I'll see how I feel on Sunday. I was really craving a nice bran muffin with raisins (of course I will have to make it so that it's sugar free) but my cravings can change in the next few days.

Day 5: South Beach Phase 1

I didn't eat anything too interesting or out of the ordinary today. I craved a Big Mac. I've always loved them and during my no eating red meat phase, I convinced several McDonalds to make a grilled chicken breast version for me. When I started eating red meat again, the Big Mac was one of the few beef items I could stomach.

I went out and bought turkey burgers and topped the patty with romaine shreds, 2% American cheese, diced onions, and sugar free thousand island dressing. I found a recipe for the dressing using mayo, ketchup, relish, and a few other ingredients.

Day 4: South Beach Phase 1

Nothing really interesting to write about today. It was a coworker's birthday so a few dozen cupcakes were delivered. She couldn't eat them all so she shared with everyone. I looked at a cupcake and then had Tribe hummus with sugar snap peas.

Day 3: South Beach Phase 1

It's getting pretty boring with me just listing what I ate. Today I actually did some cooking. In the morning I made my chicken breakfast sausage patties. I came up with this the last time I was on South Beach. This is a lot healthier than even the turkey sausage you can buy at the store so you can probably eat this everyday if you wanted to. You shouldn't eat regular turkey breakfast sausage from the grocery store everyday. It has too much fat.

Chicken Breakfast Sausage

2 pounds ground chicken breast (either lean ground chicken from grocery store or grind your own chicken breasts)
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons sugar free maple flavored syrup
1-3 teaspoons crushed reds
few gratings freshly grated cloves
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon tarragon
2 cloves garlic (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder)

Mix everything together. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat skillet on medium heat. Form chicken into patties and pan fry until brown. Finish cooking in oven.

I keep the patties in the freezer and bring out a patty or two for breakfast. It reheats well in the microwave.

The next recipe is for Chicken & Pork Satay. I ate the chicken and the bf ate the pork. I took some pictures with my phone. This is not a food blog, I am not breaking out the DSLR or doing any fancy plating.

Chicken & Pork Satay

1 pound chicken breast or pork loin or roast, sliced

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons coconut cream

1 clove garlic, minced

½ inch knob of ginger, minced

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

MSG, to taste (optional)

1 packet splenda

Marinate chicken for 1 to 4 hours. Soak skewers in water for approximately 30 minutes. Skewer the chicken pieces. Grill until cooked.

Peanut Sauce:

13 ounce can coconut milk

1 cup peanut butter (Use creamy or crunchy. I had crunchy on hand.)

2 tablespoons red curry paste

2 packets splenda

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

salt, to taste

MSG, to taste (optional)

Heat everything in a sauce pan, constantly whisking to combine sauce. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer about 3 minutes. Be careful if you’re not using a heavy-bottomed saucepan, the sauce may scorch. Let cool and serve.

Leftover peanut sauce can be frozen for later.

You'll notice honey is in the picture below. There's no honey in the recipe. I don't know how it got there. You will not be using honey or palm sugar but two packets of splenda.

I forgot to include the rice vinegar in the photo above.

The last item on the plate is a cucumber salad. It's not Thai cucumber salad. I wanted the Lao style salad but I didn't want shred the cucumber or use a mortar & pestle so I just sliced the cucumber and tossed them with lime juice, fish sauce, sliced bird chilies, garlic, splenda, and MSG.

Breakfast: Coffee with half & half and splenda, "fried" egg, and two slices turkey bacon (reheated from yesterday's breakfast
Lunch: skipped
Snack: Planter's Nut-rition mixed nuts (about 15 pieces)
Dinner: 1 chicken satay skewer, peanut sauce, and cucumber salad
Dessert: Chocolate milk made with Horizon Organic lactose free milk and sugar free Hershey's syrup

Eggs

I was reading an article this morning about nutrition myths and the number 8 item on the list was eggs. I've always eaten a lot of eggs and about the only meat I eat is chicken and seafood. More recently I started adding back in red meat and pork but it has to be disguised enough for me to stomach it. Steak = no. Hebrew National hot dog = sort of. (I actually prefer chicken hot dogs.)

Nutrition "Scare" #8: Eggs are Cholesterol Bombs!

Perhaps the biggest nutrition myth is that eggs are bad for your heart, a fact attributed to the cholesterol in the yolk. But here's the truth: The dietary cholesterol found in eggs actually has little effect on the amount of cholesterol in your blood. When it comes to increasing LDL ("bad cholesterol"), trans and saturated fats are the real culprits. The incredible, edible egg is actually an excellent, affordable source of protein and B vitamins, and it may help you lose weight. A 2008 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that dieters who consumed two eggs for breakfast each day lost significantly more weight than those who consumed bagels.

Finally, start your day right. A great breakfast will jump start your metabolism and have you burning more calories throughout the day. The wrong one might fill you up with empty calories and an entire day’s worth of fat, sugar and/or salt. Make sure you steer clear of the breakfasts in this shocking list of the 20 Worst Breakfasts in America.

Day 2: South Beach Phase 1

Today went well. There were temptations but I keep remembering the dress. I also want to look great on my wedding day so that when a certain someone stalks me, they will want to eat their heart out. I know it's mean and vain but it helps motivate me.

Today I slept in so I had breakfast a little later. I had and egg and two slices of turkey bacon. It's not bacon (more like bacon flavored turkey lunch meat) but it's something. A note about the eggs: I'm eating a lot of eggs on this diet. Don't do it if you have cholesterol issues. I eat a lot of eggs because I cannot stomach the taste of most meat.

I think I skipped lunch. I didn't even have my coffee until later in the day. I just had a snack of mixed nuts instead.

For dinner I made chicken chili with kidney and pinto beans. It was pretty darn good. The bf calculated his calories for the day and decided he could eat a second bowl. (We're doing this diet together. He's just cutting his portions and watching his calories while I'm doing that plus low carb.) I also had half a cup of steamed sugar snap peas. They are delicious and only 35 calories.

I went to sign up for a new tanning package at the neighborhood tanning salon and then I went to pick up a few more grocery items. When I came home, I had a glass (cup) of chocolate milk. It was Horizon 2% lactose free milk with two tablespoons of sugar free Hershey's syrup.

Breakfast: 2 slices turkey bacon and 1 "fried" egg
Lunch: Skipped
Snack: about 15 mixed nuts and coffee
Dinner: less than a cup of homemade chicken chili and 1/2 cup steamed sugar snap peas
Snack: Chocolate milk made with lactose free milk and sugar free Hershey's syrup

I forgot to post the recipe I used for making my chicken chili. Besides this blog, I actually have a wedding planning blog and a food blog that dates back to 2004. I adapted one of my regular recipes for South Beach. (I also made it simpler to make since my other recipe is a two-day turkey chili recipe.)

South Beach Chicken Chili

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
ancho chile powder, to taste
1 pound lean ground chicken (or use ground turkey but I find ground chicken leaner)
1 bell pepper, diced
2 10-ounce cans Ro-tel (make sure no sugar added)
1 10-ounce can tomato sauce (make sure no sugar added)
10 ounces water
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
1 32-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon Dutch processed cocoa powder
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
few drops of Tabasco or Texas Pete hot sauce
1 packet of Splenda (optional -- if you need to cut the acidity)

1. Heat large dutch oven on medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, and garlic. Saute about a minute. Add ancho chili powder and saute about 20 seconds.
2. Toss in chicken and cook until browned. Add bell peppers and cook for a minute.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer several hours until thick. Adjust seasoning. Serve with low fat cheese and diced onions.

I usually make a turkey chili requiring dicing up turkey meat. It's one of those things I like to make when turkeys go on sale for Thanksgiving. It's tedious but the texture is so much better than using ground turkey.

I usually roast and grind my own dried chile pods for chili. (Like I do for my enchilada sauce.) For this I used ground ancho chile powder from my local spice shop. This powder is just ground up dried chiles and not the chili seasoning mix you find at the grocery store. I think chili powders are fine but be careful with the seasoning packets at the store. They contain flour to thicken the chili. I usually thicken my chili with some masa flour or just crumble a few corn chips into the pot. I like the crumbled corn chips because it's just very satisfying to add crumbled chips to chili. But for this recipe, I couldn't use a thickener. I just cooked it down and it was pretty thick.

I also like to use garbanzo beans. (Don't shoot me. I'm not Texan.) This time I just went with kidney and pinto beans. It was funny as the bf went through the pantry and pulled out cans of beans. "How about azuki beans? Or soy beans? Black beans?" I have a pretty good stash of can and dried beans but with cooking for South Beach, I find easier is better. I don't want to spend too much time cooking or thinking about food. I love food. I socialize around food. I study food. Who else will bake the same chocolate cake every week for four months just to adjust it perfectly for high altitude baking? The reason why I got fat was because I love yummy food and cannot force myself to eat for the sake of eating. I'm re-learning how to eat to live and not live to eat. I need to just eat what's good for me so that I'm not hungry; not eat only things that I find tasty.

Day 1: SB Phase 1

I started my first day of South Beach Phase 1. It's more like day 6 since I've been on Dukan for the previous 5 days. It wasn't so bad. I didn't want to start off eating veggies or beans so I started off the day with my two turkey sausages and coffee. I had yogurt later.

For lunch I was planning on going to get the Macho Salad but they raised the price to $17. I didn't want to spend $17 for lunch so I ended up going to a place called modmarket. I didn't get any of the yummier looking stuff in the picture above. I created my own salad and had chicken, black beans, endamame, almonds, fresh mozzarella, cucumbers, and a tiny bit of avocado on top of field greens. I went with a champagne vinaigrette on the side and barely used a teaspoon. The black beans was a black bean salad so it already had a dressing on it.

I helped put together packets for work. It was a lot of walking. I was hungry when I was done so I had 15 pistachios.

For dinner I had my tofu soup again.

Breakfast: Coffee with fat free half & half and splenda and turkey sausage
Mid-morning snack: Dannon Carb Control yogurt
Lunch: Salad
Afternoon snack: 15 pistachios
Dinner: Tofu soup

Day 5: Attack Phase

Yay! I made it through five days of the Attack Phase. I will report total weight loss tomorrow when I weigh myself. **Update on 10/21: I lost a total of 5.5 pounds the last five days. I'm hoping only 3.5 was water weight the rest was actual weight loss.

It's been tough. I don't know how someone can do it for a full ten days. I couldn't really eat any more meat today. I'm not a huge meat eater to begin with.

Tomorrow I move to Phase 1 of the South Beach (SB) diet. You're supposed to do Phase 1 of SB for two weeks so since I've already done five days of Dukan Phase 1 (which is even stricter than Phase 1 of SB), I will probably do 9 days of SB Phase 1. We'll see if I can last longer. Right about now I'm craving a bran muffin with raisins. Yeah I'm craving something really bad for me.

As you can see, I'm really not eating unlimited calories. The Lose It! app is programed to allow 1,221 calories so that I can lose 1.5 pounds per week and I'm eating way less than that so I will hopefully lose approximately 2 pounds per week. That's my goal. So after this initial water weight loss, I should have realistically only lost 2 pounds. I think I'm eating way less because I'm so restricted on what I can eat and I think lean protein fills you up more with fewer calories.

For breakfast I had my usual coffee and two turkey sausage links. At around 10:00 a.m. I had a yogurt with oat bran.

For lunch I ate the albacore tuna salad made with greek yogurt. I also had a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese.

Before I left work, I ate a sugar free jell-o.

For dinner I had two "fried" eggs with soy sauce.

Breakfast: Coffee with fat free half & half and splenda, two turkey sausage links.
Snack: Dannon Light & Fit Carb Control yogurt with 1.5 tablespoons oat bran
Lunch: Albacore tuna salad made with Fage yogurt instead of mayo (added a medium boiled egg) and wedge of Laughing Cow cheese
Snack: Sugar free jell-o
Dinner: Two "fried" eggs with soy sauce

Day 4: Attack Phase

I left the house today without grabbing a container of frozen turkey sausage links so after eating my yogurt with oat bran, I remembered I had Boca burgers in the freezer at work. I nuked one and had it for breakfast.

I had another Sargento colby jack cheese stick before I left for the store. When I came back, I ate my tofu soup. I really like the soup. It's a nice change from meat.

Before I left work I ate another yogurt and a wedge of laughing cow garlic herb cheese. The yogurt was 45 calories and the cheese was 35.

I stopped at the store for some rotisserie chicken and a few other items. I tried eating the chicken but I couldn't manage more than a few bites. I gave up and decided to make a tuna salad for tomorrow's lunch. I can't find any sugar free mayo out there so I just used some Fage 0%. I then decided to dish out a few spoonfuls of Fage and sprinkled some sugar free cherry jell-o powder on top.

At this point, meat tastes disgusting to me. I don't think I can eat just yogurt and cheese alone. I've been looking at the next phase and it's still extremely restrictive. I think after tomorrow, I will start Phase 1 of the South Beach diet. At least I can have a little avocado and nuts.

Day 3: Attack Phase

Today was the toughest day so far. I didn't eat breakfast right away. I started working and just had my cup of coffee. I didn't eat my sausage links until almost 11:00. I then tried to eat the roasted chicken for lunch and the smell of chicken made me want to gag. I ate one piece and gave up. I had yogurt with oat bran but I had the Activia light this time. I don't think I'm supposed to have sucrose but I ate it anyways. I also had a bit of 2% cheddar. I then ate a hard boiled egg. As an late afternoon snack, I had another yogurt but this time without the oat bran.

I didn't feel like eating anymore meat for dinner so I made a soup with extra firm tofu and my aunt's meat sauce. The sauce has ground pork, fermented soy beans, and a tiny bit of tomatoes. It was really yummy. I was starving.

Breakfast: Coffee with fat free half & half and Stevia and two turkey sausage links
Lunch: 1 chicken drumstick, Activia yogurt, 2% cheddar cheese, hard boiled egg.
Snack: Activia yogurt
Dinner: Tofu soup with ground pork sauce

Day 2: Attack Phase

Today went well. I'm under calorie again. It's not like I'm not eating because I don't want to calories to add up. I'm eating throughout the day and I'm still under.

In the morning I had my cup of coffee with fat free half & half and Stevia and two turkey breakfast sausage links.

Around mid-morning, I ate my yogurt with oat bran.

I was going to have a later lunch because I had to run to the store so I had a Sargento colby jack cheese stick. When I returned, I had a smoked chicken andouille sausage. It was only 150 calories and it didn't have any nitrates. I also had about an ounce of low fat cheddar. I decided 2% milk cheese should be fine since the only fat free cheese I can find is fat free american cheese slices.

Before I left work, I ate a hard boiled egg with salt and pepper.

For dinner I roasted chicken drumsticks with this yummy Red Rocks seasoning rub. It had hickory smoke, salt, various paprikas, garlic, and oregano. It's one of the yummy spice blends that I get at the local spice shop. I had two drumsticks (skin removed). I then had sugar free raspberry jell-o for dessert.

I thought I might eat a yogurt a little later but then I called my sister and we ended up talking for a while and now it's too late to eat.

All in all I think my food options are rather boring. I don't really eat red meat so cooking a steak doesn't sound very appetizing to me. I eat fish but I would rather not cook it myself. For some reason when I cook fish, I end up not eating it. My main protein source for years has been chicken and I'm not tired of it.

Breakfast: Two turkey sausage links and two cups of coffee with fat free half & half and Stevia
Mid-morning Snack: Dannon Carb Control vanilla yogurt with 1.5 tablespoons oat bran
Lunch: Open Nature brand smoked turkey andouille sausage and ounce of 2% cheddar cheese
Afternoon Snack: Hard boiled egg
Dinner: 2 baked chicken drumsticks
Dessert: Sugar free Jello-o

Day 1: Attack Phase

I did very well the up until about 2:00. I didn't eat much of my breakfast. I just had two turkey sausage links and two cups of coffee.

The bf came back home around 12:30 and heated up my leftover fried noodles from yesterday. It smelled so good. I started feeling hungry so I had my no sugar added nonfat yogurt with the 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran. The oat bran wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it definitely is not granola.

I then left to the grocery store to pick up salmon for dinner. When I returned, I was starving and I was starting to develop a headache. I remember these headaches. It's your body withdrawing from the sugar addiction. The milk sugar was not enough.

I ignored it and had a few cubes of low fat medium cheddar with some thinly sliced chicken sandwich meat. This was the good stuff from the natural market but it was still very salty. I also remembered to drink my water. The only liquids I had for the day was the coffee. I'm supposed to drink quite a bit of water on this diet.

I had to take an afternoon nap. My head was hurting and I was getting hungry again. Every once in a while I have to take afternoon naps. It's my heart condition. The low blood pressure and the high heart rate makes me really tired.

I woke up from the nap and made the salmon. I wasn't feeling like salmon so I just forced it down because I needed the calories and the protein. I then had a sugar free jello snack.

Breakfast: 2 Jennie-O turkey sausage links and two cups of coffee with nonfat half & half and Stevia.
Snack: Dannon Light & Fit Carb & Sugar Control vanilla cream yogurt with 1.5 tablespoons oat bran.
Lunch: 1 ounce of low fat cheddar cheese and about an ounce or two of shaved chicken breast
Dinner: about 3 ounces of Keta salmon seasoned with salt & pepper
Dessert: Raspberry sugar free Jell-O

I'm entering information in Lose It! and according to that, I've eaten 596 calories today. I'm not sure if the weight loss will be due to the eating only protein or because I'm eating so little.

Motivation

It's Sunday morning and I'm ready to start this new diet. I've been thinking about dieting for months now but finally I now have a reason to be serious. We'll see how I feel at the end of the day.

My Vera Wang Ethel dress.